The storylines were aplenty Tuesday night as the men’s soccer team took on #1 ranked Notre Dame in the 2014 Danny Dahlquist Memorial Game, held every year to honor the Bradley soccer player killed in a 2007 house fire.
In front of a Shea Stadium-record crowd of 3099, the Braves and the Fighting Irish played to a 2-2 draw last night.
Less than 14 minutes into the game, Notre Dame’s Patrick Hogan was fouled on a questionable call inside of the penalty box resulting in a penalty kick and the game’s first goal. It would be the only goal scored in the first half.
But, the Braves didn’t want to disappoint the record crowd and came out in the second half determined to stay with the pre-season NCAA #1 team in the country.
The golden opportunity didn’t strike until the 77th minute when junior Grant Bell connected on a pass from senior Cody Lofgren to tie the game at one.
The draw did not last long, however. Notre Dame’s Connor Klekota gave the Fighting Irish a 2-1 lead just 27 seconds later.
The Braves had one final push in them. With less than six minutes remaining in the match, sophomore Christian Okeke received a perfect pass from Lofgren and tapped in the goal to tie the game at two.
That ended up being the final score, as the game would end in a 2-2 draw. The teams elected to not play an overtime period.
Lofgren said he was proud of how well he and his teammates played, despite the relative youth of Bradley’s team.
“It’s great to come out and play the way we did against Notre Dame especially with the guys we lost,” Lofgren said. “It’s really motivating and encouraging for our young guys.”
While the Braves are the defending MVC tournament champions and made the NCAA tournament last season, the team lost ten seniors, including their starting goaltender.
The losses have opened spots for some of Bradley’s younger players to step up, something head coach Jim DeRose, who played five freshman at one point in the match, said afterward.
“I want to say how proud I am of my freshman who played tonight,” DeRose said. “They battled, played hard and defended well.”
The Braves return to the pitch Sunday at the University of Illinois-Chicago in their final exhibition game. The 2014 season officially kicks off Aug. 29-31 when Bradley hosts the Hotels at Grand Prarie Classic, featuring San Jose State, UNLV, and Western Illinois.
GAME NOTES: The record crowd was the largest since 2009 when the Braves hosted Memphis in front of 2,612 people…Notre Dame featured Peoria product Vince Cicciarelli. Cicciarelli left the game late in the second due to a broken nose…This was Bradley goaltender Shay Niemeyer’s first match since Nov. 5 of last season when he recorded a shutout…Bradley coach Jim DeRose began his 19th season as the head coach. DeRose’s 205 career wins are 80.1% of the total wins in Bradley soccer history (256) and his 64 MVC wins are responsible for 95.5% of the all-time total (67).
